The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in the present disclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by their inclusion in this section.
Machine-type communication (MTC) technology may enable ubiquitous computing environments as progress moves towards the concept of the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Potential MTC-based applications include smart metering, healthcare monitoring, remote security surveillance, intelligent transportation systems, individual item inventory control, and so forth. These services and applications may stimulate the design and development of a new type of MTC device that may be seamlessly integrated into current and future generation mobile broadband networks.
Existing mobile broadband networks are designed to optimize performance mainly for human-type communications. Therefore, existing networks may not be adapted or optimized for MTC-related requirements. MTC-specific designs may be explored, for example, by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Future 3GPP specifications may support different network design, which may improve MTC.
For example, in 3GPP release 12 a new physical layer UE category, referred to as Category 0, was introduced into the E-UTRA specifications. This UE category has lower capabilities, for example in terms of peak data rate capability and in terms of transmission and reception performance due to support of only a single antenna, than the previous lowest Category 1. One of the aims for introducing Category 0 is to enable lower cost user equipment (UE) for MTC applications.
In 3GPP release 13 a new physical layer UE category (Category X) is being introduced having even lower capability and lower cost, compared to Category 0 added in release 12. In addition, an Enhanced Coverage (EC) feature is being introduced to increase the link budget by up to 15 decibels (dB). The EC feature will enable the E-UTRAN to communicate with UEs that are located in challenging locations where currently coverage cannot be provided or is difficult to provide to UEs, for example deep inside a building, in a basement, inside a pallet of goods and the like. Category X and EC are targeted to UEs primarily used for MTC applications. Category X and EC may be independently implemented and a UE may support either one or both.